Digital thermometer needed for mashing?
 

I have one of those steel thermometers that I use for checking wort temperature for pitching yeast. Would that be good enough to get strike water temps, or do I need a digital thermometer? Mine gets a read pretty quickly, it just seems like it's not as precise of a read as it could be.

Mine is similar to this:
http://northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/large-dial-thermometer.jpg

No you don"t need a digital thermometer. I actually will be sticking with my analog Fermatap dial thermo. Just calibrate it with ice water and then boiling and you are good to go

Unless you have something special you need a digital
and you need to take a little time to be sure your mash temp is where you want it. Don't rush this step

Two conflicting answers. Get a thermometer that is readable and works for you. Personally I like my oven thermometer with a probe. I waterproofed the probe with silicone tubing and tie wraps. I prefer to keep it in the mash the whole time just so I can monitor temps (I brew outdoors). The crappiest thing about thermometers is that no two read the same, and you just have to compare a couple and get an idea of which one you are going to put faith in.

reasoning?

Why I ask is if you peruse the threads you will see a lot of people have had issues with digital thermometers. I have been through at least 4 myself . I am going to drill my MLT to accept the fermentap thermo so I don't need to open the cooler to see my mash temps. But in reality once I hit the temp and close it up it may lose a 1° to 2° in an hour.

Perhaps a dumb question, but how do you calibrate it?

If your thermo is like mine there is a little screw on the backside of the face . To calibrate all you need do is place it in a glass with crushed ice and water dont let the probe touch the side or bottom in a few minutes the water will be @32° and so should the the thermometer. If not adjust it up or down with that screw .You really dont need to the boil side but I do to see if its linear in temp. Never had one off by more the 1° when the lower temp is set correctly

If it lacks a calibration screw you just have to either remember or write down the amount it is off.

My Brewmometer is spot on and I use it to calibrate my other thermometers. The digital one I just bought to replace the last one that I dropped in hot water (anyone else done that?) is off by 5F. They are NOT inherently more accurate then non-digital. They all have to be calibrated.

GT

I use a regular old dial thermometer for my mash.

I have one of both that read the same so the one that gets grabbed is the one that gets used.